This Is What Happened to John-Boy, One of the Most Popular Characters on 'The Waltons'

What happened to John-Boy Walton? Two other actors, Richard Thomas and Robert Wightman, have played the popular character on 'The Waltons.'

The last-ever episode of The Waltons aired on CBS June 4, 1981, leaving many fanatics who've grown to love the show all over its nine-season run on the channel devastated. 

Covering the duration between the Great Depression and World War II, the drama told the tale of John Walton Sr. and his circle of relatives from the point of view of his oldest son, formidable journalist John-Boy. 

Fortunately for fanatics, the show now airs on Hallmark. 

John-Boy's personality was once loosely primarily based on Earl Hamner Jr., the writer of 'The Waltons.'

The Waltons is based totally on the 1961 autobiographical novel via Earl Hamner Jr., Spencer's Mountain, which gives a rare glimpse into the day-to-day life of a West Virginian family. 

The TV collection revolves around a family of nine dwelling on Walton's Mountain. While the head of the family, John Walton Sr., makes a living by way of running a close-by sawmill, the kids have to search for their own adventures, coming into pig competitions, attending fairs, and the like.

As the oldest son of the family, John-Boy has extra duties than the other youngsters. Determined to grow to be a journalist or a creator, he leaves the family nest and enrolls at Boatwright University. During his time at the college, he makes ends meet as a librarian, and soon enough, he additionally acquires a printing press to submit his own identify, The Blue Ridge Chronicle. 

His profession ambitions are reduce brief by means of World War II. After the assault on Pearl Harbor, John-Boy, like the other men in the circle of relatives, has to join in the army. He ultimately becomes a conflict correspondent, writing for the Stars and Stripes. For some time, some fear that he has vanished, however he returns to Walton's Mountain in the finish. 

In the last season of the display, John-Boy sets out to New York to talk about his ebook draft with an editor. Unfortunately, his manuscript is grew to become down, leading him to make his way back to his family.  

Richard Thomas, the actor originally cast in John-Boy's function, left 'The Waltons' in 1978.

Richard Thomas portrayed John-Boy's character between Seasons 1 and six. While it is uncertain why the actor decided to surrender, it's understood that he remained on good terms with the cast and the creators alike. It seems that, most likely, Richard opted to go away to pursue different interests, as actors who've been in one position for a long time, like John-Boy, often do.

"It was a wonderful family. It was a family feeling ... we were all very compatible, we all had a very good time, lot of love, lot of fun, lot of laughter ... over the years we've stayed in touch and ... there's a very strong bond that's never gone away," Richard defined in a prior interview with Antenna TV.

Richard went on to have roles in Roots, It, The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson, Just Cause, The Americans, and, most lately, The Comey Rule. He also reprised his function as John-Boy in a couple of The Waltons movie spinoffs in the '90s. 

Robert Wightman took over John-Boy's function in a Season 8 episode, titled "The Waiting," and he persisted to play the popular persona up until the last-ever episode of the TV show, "The Revel." Afterward, the actor went on to appear in films like Impulse and Stepfather III, and TV presentations like On Wings of Eagles. 

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